He Loves Me, Not
by EternalRose
Summary: Sometimes you just can't help who you fall for. AkuRoku fic! R&R please!
1. Transfers

**Please read and reveiw! I'm not sure whether I'm going to keep this fic, but if you like it let me know and I'll update. If not then I'll delete it! Thanks :)**

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**Like Any Other Day**

Today was going to be like any other. Get up, get dressed and go to school, then go home. And repeat. That's what Roxas had in mind, anyhow, after years of the same, unchanging routine. But he was wrong. Today would be the day that changed everything and it all started around seven am.

Lying asleep in bed, he was snuggled comfortably beneath the comforts of his quilt still in dreamland. He was having a pretty decent dream too, where he lived on a planet made entirely of sea salt ice-cream and the clouds were giant marshmallows. There were pixies and unicorns there, too. Then suddenly, there was a dark ominous shadow which immediately altered the mood of the dream. The skies darkened, grass yellowed and he was stood alone in the middle of a deep quarry. Sudden panic arose within him; he had to get out. He had to run.

"Roxas," a distant voice called.

His breath quicken as his eyes darted around him; he wasn't alone. The shadows were manifesting into dark beings that seemed hell-bent of reaching him.

"Stay away," he mumbled.

"Come on, Roxas!"

He frowned; that voice sounded familiar to him. He looked around through the advancing shadows, but couldn't see anyone.

"Roxas, you lazy bum, get up!"

Now that was strange. Who was that?

Then suddenly the ground started to shake beneath him, the shadows fell into nothingness, yet he stood, eyebrows knitted as he looked around for the source. Still there was no-one.

"Get up! Get up! GET UP!"

His eyes fluttered open on familiar surroundings; the sky blue walls of his room. But his vision was a little shaky and he groaned and turned over to face the object of his annoyance. His annoying twin brother, Sora, bouncing on his bed energetically, grinning down at him.

"Sleeping beauty awakes!" Sora exclaimed excitedly, plopping down with a boing on the bed and, as Roxas winced in pain, right on top of him. His bed was a single one, and a small one at that. All he could see was two bright blue eyes exactly like his own, grinning down at him.

"Five more minutes," he grumbled, shifting his squished limbs from beneath his annoying brother. He snuggled further under the blankets.

"It's seven o'clock! You have to get up for school," Sora argued, whipping off his covers. His unruly brown hair bounced as he moved.

Roxas' eyes widened with annoyance as he exerted another groan, flopping his hand over his tired eyes. He felt Sora's weight shift on top of him; Sora was now sat on him, but he was light so he didn't mind much. Still, he was still tired and extremely annoyed of his rather rude awakening.

"Come on." Sora was prying his hand off his face, only to get glared at. Unaffected, he just beamed at him, exposing two rose of perfectly straight, white teeth - typical morning person.

"Get off me, Sora."

"Are you going to get up?"

"Yes, now go away before I hurt you," Roxas drawled, sitting up on his elbows, still looking quite annoyed.

Of course he had every intention of staying in bed for another ten minutes, but Sora didn't need to know that. His words seemed to work though, because Sora happily climbed off him and turned towards the door.

"You better do; Mums made us waffles! And if you don't hurry I'll eat them all," he chirped as he went.

That made Roxas smile slightly. "You'll explode someday with the amount of food you eat."

Sora just laughed at him, opening the door and as he was about to walk out he turned, walked over to the bad and took the quilt in his hands. Before Roxas could react he hunched it in his hands and was out of the door with it in a matter of seconds. The door slammed behind him and Roxas just stared at the wood, dumbfounded.

_That little…_

"Now you'll get up!" Was all he heard before Sora burst into laughter.

"Sora!" Roxas barked, getting up. "I'm going to kill you when I get hold of you!"

That made the laughter louder. But Roxas suddenly smiled because their routine so far was complete; Sora would forcibly wake him up by all means necessary and he would eventually have to get up. Although he was admittedly annoyed at Sora's actions, mostly due to his lack of energy in a morning, he cared a lot for his brother. Apart from their mum, he was the one person he could always rely on, even if he was extremely immature for his age of fifteen. Still, he couldn't imagine a life without him - it would be a dull life indeed.

With a lengthy stretch, he shook his head of his sleepiness. Part of him just wanted to hop back in bed and sleep, but obviously without his quilt there really was no point.

He only ever slept in his boxers so the room was fairly cold in comparison to the warmth his bed offered. He trooped over to his wardrobe and pulled out some faded jeans and a blue t-shirt with some random logo on. He just pulled them on wearily, then made his way to the other side of his room to his en-suite bathroom his shared with Sora. When he reached the sink he picked up his toothbrush, smirking to himself at the green dinosaur toothbrush Sora insisted he wanted to have and began the daily routine of brushing his teeth, washing his face and attempting to flatten his unruly blonde hair. Long blonde tendrils jutted out in every direction on his head and no amount of brushing was able to soothe it, but he kind of liked it. He had to; there was nothing he could do about it.

_At least it's not as bad as Sora's,_ he thought, smiling, _his was like he'd been electrocuted. _

Making his way down stairs, one step at a time (unlike Sora's clumsy two and three step), he hurried into the kitchen. Sora was already settled at the table, stuffing his fat face with waffles and orange juice. He had kindly saved him a few, but his pile was still larger than his own. Vaguely wondering were he put all them calories on his small frame, he made his way over to his regular seat.

Sora smiled in acknowledgement as he seated himself next to him. "Too you long enough," he commented through a mouthful of waffles.

A little repulsed at the front row view of the contents of Sora's mouth, he pulled a face and then leaned over to ruffle his hair. He circled his arms around his head, pulling him over and dug his fist into his hair.

"Hey! Roxas! Stop it!"

Roxas chuckled at Sora as he wiggled in his grasp. "Serves you right for stealing my blanket."

"You're ruining my hair!" Sora whined, gripping his wrists. "Mum!"

Jane popped her head up from scrubbing the dishes, yellow gloves on her hands. She smiled at the scene and said, "come on boys. Play nice."

"I am," Roxas answered, still mercilessly noogying Sora.

She put gloved her hands on her hips. "Roxas," she said in a warning voice. "Stop annoying your brother."

Rolling his eyes, he released his brother who whacked him on the arm. It hurt a little; for a little guy Sora sure good punch, but Roxas wouldn't let him know that. Instead he just smirked at him, picking up a waffle and taking a big bite of it.

"You boys got your things ready for school?" Jane asked, returning to washing the dishes. Her brown hair was pulled into a bun at the back of her head; she always did that when she was doing housework.

"Yeah," they chimed.

It was the first day of a new term at school; Roxas hated those. Everyone would be running around and exciting and worst of all, asking them about their Summers. Sure that was fine, but he really didn't want to talk about it. Especially when his own mother had decided to marry one of the most annoying people of Earth: his PE teacher. He was not looking forward to sharing that with anyone.

"You want a lift home today? It looked like it's going to rain. I don't want you catching a cold," she told them, whilst looking out of the window above the sink. The skies were a bright shade of blue, but the underbellies of the clouds were tinted gray. They seemed to darken by the minute.

"No, I do not want Mr. Strife to drive me home," Roxas answered bitterly and added under his breath, "it's embarrassing enough as it is."

Sora elbowed him and he shot him a stern look.

"You should be at least calling him Cloud by now. He hates Mr. Strife," Jane reminded him. "And why not? Too embarrassed?" Her tone suddenly became teasing as turned over shoulder to send him a knowing look.

"He's our P.E teacher, Mum! Couldn't you have pick someone else has a husband?" Roxas moaned, even though he knew it was pointless. They'd had the same discussion countless times. "Like for example, someone who wasn't our teacher?"

"He's your step-dad. Deal with it," Jane said tersely. "Besides, he's not that bad. He offers to help you with homework and take you to football games-"

"Which he's the coach off," Roxas interjected in a bored tone.

"Besides the point," his mother sighed.

"I don't mind, Cloud, mum. He's cool," Sora chirped in, as ever the loyal mummies boy.

Roxas rolled his eyes at him. Jane smiled appreciatively, snapping off her rubber gloves and putting them on the side.

"At least someone likes him." She looked pointedly at Roxas as she made her way over to the table. "Now are you sure you don't want a lift? I can call Cloud and ask him before his lessons start. He won't mind, he likes spending time with you boys."

"I don't know, maybe I'll ask him when I_ see him _in_ P.E_!"

Jane sent Roxas a stern look, folding her arms across her chest. She looked liked she was about to say something before Sora piped up.

"What he means to say is 'no thank you, mum. It was nice of you to ask, but I'd rather not die of humiliation'." Sora smiled sheepishly at Jane.

Sighing, she shook her head and leaned to kiss Sora, who was nearest on the head. "Maybe another day. You better had get going now before you're late." She kissed Roxas on the cheek and ruffled his hair. "Get up earlier next time."

"Like that'll happen," Sora answered as he stood up, grabbed some waffles and put on his bag.

Roxas followed his lead, minus the waffles. His glare only made Sora's goofy grin widen. "Lets go," he mumbled in a tired voice. He turned to give his mother a small smile. "See you later."

"Bye mum!" Sora called as he hurried after Roxas.

…

As he expected, the school halls were filled with laughter and loud chattering people. He managed through first and second period fairly well without getting a headache, but by break time in the canteen he was beginning to wish he had stayed in bed.

"Seriously?" His friend Hayner was saying, eyebrows rose.

"Yeah," Roxas said dryly.

"Man that sucks," his blonde friend sympathised.

"It's not that bad," a boy with longish silvery hair piped up. "My mum married her boss."

"He's your Dad, Riku," a girl with vivid red hair and smiling eyes said. "Mr. Strife is our teacher."

"So?" Riku shrugged. "It's still not that bad. It's not as if Strife's some dork with glasses."

This was killing Roxas; he was sure he felt his dignity being reduced to a tiny speck by each excruciating minute.

"I like him," Sora divulged, smiling. "He offered to coach me at football."

"You need all the coaching you can get," Roxas sniggered, nudging his shoulder. Sora frowned at him.

"Don't listen to him, Sor, you're good. I've seen you play," the red-head encouraged, grinning at him.

Sora smiled appreciably at the girl, his bright blue eyes twinkling. "Thanks, Kairi. But Roxas is right. I'll never be as good as Riku."

Roxas resisted the urge to barf; Sora and Kairi had been best friends since they could walk and everyone knew that they liked each other. It just annoyed him how they never said anything about it. Every time he mentioned her name to Sora he'd just blush madly and say he 'had to go do something'. It really made him laugh.

"Talking like that is exactly why I'm captain of the team," Riku said sternly, "you need to have more confidence. I'll even help you practice."

Just then a brown haired girl and a quite chubby boy with black hair came and sat down at the table. Everyone turned to acknowledge them, offering some 'hello's' and smiles. Roxas merely nodded at them.

"Have you heard?" the brown haired girl asked as she seated herself next to Roxas.

"What?" Sora asked, looking excited. Roxas mentally rolled his eyes at him, but he, admittedly was intrigued.

"There's some transfer students coming in. Two of them have just been in my class and they're hot!" the girl continued, leaning in closer to the table. "You should have seen them!"

Certainly not what Roxas was expecting. His eyebrows rose. Transfer students at Twilight High? Today? He certainly hadn't seen any. He even found himself looking around the canteen to see if he could see any and not surprisingly, so were a few other heads on the table.

Riku wasn't really interested, he was just sat, hands behind his head pretending to listen. He was in the year above them, but he'd somehow formed a close bond with Sora and decided to hand around with him. Roxas was really puzzled by it; Riku was mature and a whole lot cooler than Sora, who was just a childish little boy, yet he genuinely seemed to enjoy his company. Weird.

"How many, Olette?" Hayner asked.

Olette looked at the rounded boy. "Pence?"

The boy named Pence started counting on his hands, looking up thoughtfully. "Five of them."

"They're all older than us, too!" Olette added, grinning.

"They're college students," said Riku in a bored tone. "They have re-sit some exams or something like that."

"You knew?" Olette asked.

Riku just shrugged.

"Oh. My. God," Kairi squealed, making Roxas nearly jump. He glared. "I totally have to see!"

"Girls," Roxas mumbled under his breath.

Olette sent him a piercing look. "You can't talk. I bet you're just itching to see them."

Confused, he furrowed his brows. "What?"

"It's no secret, Roxas."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Olette grinned and he could hear muffled laughter from somewhere behind him. "You're gay, we know."

His jaw almost literally dropped. He was most certainly not gay.

"You're too funny," he said darkly, narrowing his eyes.

"You're in denial, I See," Olette replied, grinning even wider.

He swore that if she wasn't a girl he would've tackled her to the ground, proving exactly that he wasn't a sissy boy by now.

"I. Am. Not. Gay," Roxas said, in the same tone.

"Roxas, sweetie," Kairi spoke up, placing a hand over his shoulder. "Look at your clothes. Designer clothes. Even your hair is always styled like that-"

"It's natural!" he argued defensively.

"And we've never seen you with a girlfriend," Kairi continued, ignoring the interruption. "We all knew from the start you were gay."

"I'm not!"

The bell suddenly went in the background and everyone was getting up to leave.

"Whatever," Olette called over her shoulder as she got up to leave. Kairi was giggling by her side and all the guys were staring at him, looking either amused or sending him knowing looks.

What the hell? Did they really think he was gay!?

"Not gay!"

…

The day certainly hadn't got off to a good start. First he was bombarded with questions about his gruelling summer and then to top it off, he was accused of being gay, which as far as he knew, was completely wrong. He liked girls, no he loved girls. He liked their hair, the way they smelt and their big eyes. See? He couldn't be gay.

_What do they know_, he scoffed, leaning back into his chair. _Idiots._

He was in his French class, supposedly listening to a lecture, but he really couldn't concentrate. He didn't even know why he picked French in the first place; it was just so _boring_. He bet Sora, Kairi and Olette were having fun in their dance class right about now. And that pissed him off - Sora chose dance and no-one batted an eyelid. That had to be one of the _gayest_ things to do, yet no-one accused him of being gay!

_Eugh! Now I can't even stop thinking about it!_ _Stupid people with their stupid accusation and stupid -_

"You can sit next to Roxas," Madame Ward was saying. He looked up at the mention of his name.

The tiny figure of Madame Ward was talking to a tall boy with the reddest hair he'd ever seen. It was a big mass of red spikes on his head and Roxas thought that it was kind of cool. He must have been one of the transfer students Riku had told him about. The dude turned to look at him and he nearly fell off his chair, he had to grip the table before he toppled over. Two of the greenest eyes he'd ever seen riveted to look directly at him. They were like two large emeralds glimmering at him and they widened slightly when they saw him and then he smiled - no more like_ smirked_ at him. What? Did he have something on his face? Food from break, perhaps? His hands consciously checked his mouth for any signs of food. No. Then what was he staring at? - the stupid ignoramus.

The new dude nodded, red spikes bouncing slightly and made his way over to him; it was a strut the emanated confidence. He already seemed to be quite the character.

"Hey there, blondie," red said in a low, husky voice as he seated himself next to him. He slumped back in his chair, angled slightly so that he was facing him. The eyes seemed even greener up close and - wait - he had tattoos on his face! Two black teardrop tattoos!

_Man, this dude was weird._

"I'm Axel," he continued. "A-X-E-L. Got in memorised?" He made a circle with his hand and pointed to his temple.

Roxas' eyes widened slightly and then he frowned. "That your catchphrase or something?"

"Yeah," he said proudly, smirking harder. "Something like that. So, you got a name, blondie? Or should I just call you blondie?"

His eyes narrowed at the nickname. "Why should I tell you?"

"Well when people tell you their name, usually, they get one in return." Axel leaned forward. "Am I right, blondie?"

He gritted his teeth. "Roxas."

"What?" he asked, but from the pleased expression on his face it was clear he'd actually heard him.

"My _name_ is Roxas."

"Roxas?" Axel mused, rolling his tongue on the 'r'. "Okay, Roxy."

"Roxas," Roxas half-snapped, irritated.

"Sure, Roxy, I heard you." Axel was sat looking quite calm and relaxed despite the death glare he was sending him. Usually people looked away but not Axel. He was all smiles.

"Look, I don't know who you are but just keep your mouth shut before you loose your teeth." His voice was low.

"Oooh, a little feisty there, aren't ya blondie," Axel mused. "Just how I like 'em."

The younger boy leant back, repulsed. "Good for you. Now will you shut up so I can actually learn something here."

"Not very talkative, are you?"

Roxas sent him an 'are you crazy' look. "Only to people that annoy the hell out of me."

This seemed to please Axel because he again leant close, resting his chin on his fist as he looked at him. Roxas though he kind of looked like an oversized hungry cat ready to pounce on him; he shuddered. "I'm so flattered."

"It wasn't a compliment." _Weirdo._

"You know, you're quite a snarky little brat," Axel commented in a pleasant voice. Roxas was about to retort, but Axel got there first. "I like you."

He shook his head. "You're weird, you know that."

"Sure," Axel said, unfazed. "But that's what makes you like me so much, right?"

"What the - like you?" Roxas repeated, alarmed. "I barely know you and already you've become the most annoying person I've ever met!"

Axel grinned. "Then why are you still talking to me?"

That caught Roxas completely off guard. Why _was_ he talking to him? He could just plug his fingers in his ears and ignore him, but no he was in fact sat there having a conversation with this guy.

"See?" Axel probed, pleased with himself.

"Whatever, asshat," Roxas snapped, turning away from him.

He could hear Axel laughing next to him. He tried to drown it out, but it was just so… loud and happy. He was surprised no-one else seemed to hear him. It was one of those laughs that would turn heads and make you smile when you heard it, but Roxas was too annoyed with him to acknowledge that.

"Mr Strife," Madame Ward called out unexpectedly. "The answer?"

"What?" Roxas asked in sudden panic.

"The question I just asked. What's the answer?" Her beady little eyes seemed to be smirking at him from behind her thick-rimmed glasses.

"I-er-"

_Dammit. Damn. Damn! What did she say? What was the question._

"Je voudrais une pomme, s'il vous plaît," Axel answered in a perfect French accent.

"Bien fait, Axel," Madame Ward said, smiling at him. "Faites l'attention, Roxas."

Roxas, somewhat reluctantly, turned to give Axel an appreciative smile. "Thanks, I guess."

Axel shrugged. "Anytime."

The rest of the lesson passed without much interruption. Axel didn't talk to him again after that, but Roxas would catch him watching him out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't really sure what to make of it, but he decided not to question it. He just wanted to get out of the lesson and get away from him as fast as possible.

At the end of the lesson the bell rang loudly. Madame Ward excused them and hurried out. Roxas and Axel were soon the last remaining ones in the classroom, mostly due to Roxas hadn't heard the bell go, too occupied in his thoughts and Axel was packing up his stuff. Slowly, too.

He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder and non-surprisingly Axel followed his lead, falling into pace with him as he left the classroom. Roxas walked faster to shake him off, but Axel just did the same. He turned to glare at him and the red-head just smirked.

_How annoying._

"So," Axel began, amused. "What do you have next?"

"Something hopefully you're not taking," Roxas scoffed, looking straight ahead.

"I have Math," he said brightly, ignoring the rude comment. Seriously, could nothing put this guy off?

"That's in the opposite direction."

"I know, I did graduate from this school you know. But I thought it would be more fun to follow you."

"Well quit following me, it's annoying and weird."

Axel leant closer to him. "What if I don't want to?"

The blonde stopped in his tracks, twisting around so that he was facing his stalker. Axel was a whole lot taller than he was when he was sat down, but that didn't stop him from glaring at him. He inhaled through his nose.

"I don't know what your problem is, but I'm really not interested." His voice was louder than he had thought because some people stopped briefly to watch them. He lowered his voice. "Just leave me alone."

"No need to get so worked up about it. It's just a little fun!" Axel said, laughing.

Roxas groaned; it was pointless talking to him. He was about to retort when a voice suddenly sprouted from nowhere.

"Axel, there you are!" A tall sandy haired boy yelled as he approached. His face had a somewhat child-like quality to it; big, round blue eyes and an innocent smile. It matched with his spindle-thin frame, that was just a little taller than him.

Then his eyes setlled on another boy, slightly taller than Demyx, stood behind him. He had grey hair and steely eyes that seemed to look right through you. He merely nodded at Axel.

"Yo, Demyx," Axel greeted, slapping the blonde's back. "Zex." He nodded at the slate-haired boy.

"Picked up someone already?" Demyx asked, looking over at Roxas. "You always go for the cute ones. Dude, you're so bad. They should lock you up."

Cute? Roxas? _What the hell? Not another weirdo!_

"Can't help it. They just pull me in," Axel replied, winking at Roxas (who almost wretched). "He's Roxas from my French class."

"Hey there, Roxas," Demyx spoke as though to an infant. "You doing okay?"

"I was before this ignoramus came along," he answered coldly.

Demyx and Axel laughed at him, but Zex was just staring at him as though with understanding and some… curiosity maybe?

"You'll get used to him," Demyx assured him.

_No thank you. I'd rather die._

"We're going to be late," Zex announced suddenly. His voice was low and held an air of superiority to it.

"Right. Well nice meeting you, Roxas!" Demyx said in a sweet voice. He waved goodbye as he turned along with Zex in the opposite direction.

"See you later, cutie," Axel called, sparing him a wink as he, too, followed his friends up the corridor.

What was that? A wink? He just winked at him! Was that guy wrong in the head, or something? Did he seriously think that he'd like that? If he did, he was more fucked up than he thought. Like Roxas would ever like that… he was a guy! And he did not and would not ever like guys!

Why did everyone seem to think that he was gay!

***


	2. Crush

Chapter Two

By the end of the day Roxas was mentally exhausted, mostly because he was looking over his shoulder ever two minutes to see if Axel was following him again. Seriously, he barely knew the guy and that only added to the suspense building inside him every time he turned a corner in the corridor. It was like he was just expecting to bump into him again.

He didn't want to tell the gang about their little incidence, either. That would just give them all another reason to call him gay again, and being accused once was already too many times in a lifetime for him. Still, the thought of not telling them was just as equally bad, because he knew he'd only get grief for it if he didn't.

For now he decided not to say anything. Chances are that Axel was just playing around with him, probably because he assumed that he was gay just like everyone else. He clenched his fists at his sides as he strode out of the entrance doors, barring his teeth - he was certainly not gay.

Not gay at all.

Idiots. Ah, speaking of which, Hayner, Pence and Olette were stood by the wall in their usual spot, waiting for him. They waved him over when they saw him and he grinned, immediately relived. But there was still that ebbing thought of telling them about the strange transfer students.

"Ready to go?" Olette asked, pushing herself off the wall.

"Where's Sora?" Roxas asked, glancing around in search of the energetic boy in question.

Pence's eyes widened for a moment. "Oh, he's-"

There was a sudden hard impact on his back, like ten huge sandbags hand been launched onto him, weighing him down. He toppled over, wobbling on his legs as he struggled to uphold the newly applied weight.

"-right on top of you," Pence finished lamely.

As if on cue, Sora burst into a large fit of giggles, wrapping his hands around Roxas' neck as he held onto his legs circling around his waist. "Hey there, Rox! I missed you at dinner."

Strained under his twin's elephant-equivalent weight, he managed to say, "I don't know how I missed your fat ass. Now get off."

Obliging, Sora hopped off, reappearing in front of him with a huge grin on his face. Roxas straightened up and he was sure he heard his back cracking as he bent it back into shape, stretching a little. Riku chuckled at him.

"Where'd you go?" Sora asked, still grinning like an idiot.

"Library," Roxas shrugged.

"Bookworm," Riku teased.

"Ignoramus," he shot back, irritated. Riku opened his mouth to say something, but he got their first. "Don't even say it!"

Riku just laughed at him, knowing full well what he meant. Most likely he would've accused him of being a 'Nancy-boy' again and Roxas would've proven exactly just how much of a 'Nancy-boy' he wasn't.

"Say what?"

His expression hardened and Riku just smiled. "Shut up."

Kairi's hands suddenly shot between them, acting as a wall. "Guys, cool it."

Roxas glared coldly at Riku's smirking face for a few moments before turning his gaze towards the horde of students filing out of the school. He scanned the area, smiling at a few familiar faces for the sake of being polite, but there was a taut underlining edge to his gesture, a result of knowing that they all probably thought the same as his so-called friends. Yeah, they all probably thought he was gay. Eugh, the thought of it made his stomach churn.

"Anyway, we all know the real reason Roxas' is always up in the library," Hayner said playfully, nudging Roxas' shoulder.

He shot him a funny look. "Oh and what's that?"

"Lets just say it involves a certain cute blonde girl," Hayner answered, waggling his brows roguishly.

Oh no, please don't look at me like that. It's bad enough as it is. Even though some of it might be a little true, but -

He felt his cheeks growing hot and held his hands out in defence. "Hold it right there! You got it all wrong - she's-"

"Namine!" Sora cut in, surprised. He turned to look at his brother, eyebrows rose. "Namine."

- too much of a friend.

"Well - yeah, but it's not like Hayner's saying. She's a friend."

Sora didn't look convinced and neither did anyone else, who were all looking at him with a mixture of surprised and knowing expressions. He just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole, right there and then. Instead, Olette gave his cheeks a little pinch, grinning.

"Roxas, you sly dog! How could you not tell me?" Her green eyes were really tantalising up close, sparkling like pretty green gems, almost hypnotising you. But presently he was really annoyed with her right now, so he turned his head away.

"There's nothing to tell!" he snapped with great irritation, rubbing his victim cheek.

"That's why you kept going up there," Olette, continued, assaulting his cheek again.

"But didn't she go off to Art School or something?" Pence asked, stuffing his face with a chocolate bar.

Roxas nodded. "Last year."

Hayner shook his head, laughing. "And you still go up there? Dude, you got it bad!"

His jaw dropped. "Like hell I do!"

"You're right," Kairi answered seriously. Then she leaned closer to him, with a strange gleam in her eyes that made Roxas really uncomfortable. She looked… evil. "Namine's not man enough for you, is she?"

A loud barrel of laughter erupted from the gang and he just scowled at the whole lot of them, seemingly adding to their joy. Why did they insist on making out as though he was gay all the time? Eugh! He'd had it up to here with all this bull and he was tired of it.

"Ha. Ha," he drawled dryly, folding his arms across his chest.

"Awe, c'mon, Rox," Sora cooed, slinging an arm around his shoulders. Roxas shrugged it off, but Sora just did it again. "It's just a joke."

"Sure. Whatever," Roxas said coldly, still looking away like a grumpy five-year-old kid not getting his own way.

"You wanna ask Cloud for a ride?" Sora asked suddenly, sparking Roxas' attention.

He looked at him briefly, with a look that clearly said 'are you stupid, or what?'. "No thank you, I'd rather not make my life more miserable than it already is."

"Oh gee, thanks," Hayner said with mock bitterness, folding his arms over his camouflage top.

Roxas rolled his eyes, looking away again. He suddenly wished he hadn't, because the moment he did, he was faced with a pair of very, very green eyes. He hadn't done it deliberately; though he thought the fates were somehow messing with him. Axel seemed pretty pleased about it, because he offered a small wave before hopping into the passenger seat of What-His-Face's car. Demitri… Demer… Demyx. That was it. That confident smirk was enough to want to make Roxas run fast in the opposite direction, to put as much distance between them as possible.

One the other hand, even if he did somehow manage to do that, the feeling of success wouldn't last for very long. Axel would probably stalk him sooner or later. Ass.

"Erm," he said somewhat nervously. "Yeah, let's go and get a ride off Cloud."

Confused, Sora frowned. "But you just said-"

"I know," he interjected rudely, sparing an anxious glance at the red-head. "But I suddenly feel really sick."

"Okay…"

…

Hitching a ride from Cloud was the best possible decision Roxas had made all day. For one, he managed to escape the teasing claws of his 'friends', allowing him time to regain the small amount of sanity he had left - which was pretty small, considering that days went by exactly like that everyday. Not that it bothered him, he loved his friends - ripping him to shreds was how they showed him their undying affection.

Two, it had started to rain. And Roxas hated rain. He hated the way it felt, sliding down his skin, making his clothes stick to him like another layer of flesh (and a heavy one at that).

And last, but certainly not least, he had escaped his new stalker. Of course he had only just met him today, but he had made a huge impact on him. He had stained his boring, bland existence with his rather - eh - colourful personality. If the world was made of many Axel's he bet there'd never be a dull moment.

Oh dear, and here he was already fixated on someone he barely knew. He couldn't even consider him an acquaintance, yet all throughout the day since their 'meeting', he'd been stuck on his mind. He wasn't sure whether it was his outlandish looks, or his downright bizarre personality, but the fact was he just couldn't get him out of his head for one second to even think straight.

He groaned, flopping like a dead fish onto his bed, gripping the bed sheets with his fists. He bet it had something to do with his friends constant accusations, baffling his head. He was probably trying to ignore their taunts so much that he was concentrating on something else pretty hard in order to forget, but he could still hear their joyous voices echoing in his mind. True, it was all in good nature, but no-one really likes being accused of something they're not.

Rolling over, he rested his arms behind his head. The phone was ringing downstairs and he heard Cloud yelling that 'he'd get it'. Cloud had been living with them for about three months now and already he acted like he owned the place. That pissed him off; he could live life perfectly fine without him disrupting his house, because in fact, it was his house. He had always been the 'man of the house' - mostly due to the fact that Sora was too incompetent to take on that role - and he always would be, no matter who or what walked into it.

"Roxas!" Cloud called out from downstairs. "A young lady is on the phone for you."

He winced at the sickeningly sweet tone in his voice as he mentioned the words 'young lady'. What did he know?

"Got it!" he yelled back, rolling onto his side and grabbing the phone off his bedside table.

"Hello?" he said in a bored tone.

"Your dad is pretty funny," the all-too-familiar voice of Namine answered. "He seems to think that I'm you girlfriend no matter what I tell him."

Groaning again, he threw his arm over his eyes. "I'm sorry."

She laughed, a tinkling sound that made his smile. "I don't mind. It's not exactly ridiculous, is it. I mean, we are close."

"That's exactly why I'm avoiding bringing you over here," Roxas said, imagining Jane's reaction to seeing her. Most likely she'd bring out her wedding planner and baby photo's. "It's a recipe for a disaster, I just know it."

"Don't be silly," came her reply. He could almost see the smile on her face. "It's not that bad. Besides, I wouldn't mind meeting your family. And your Dad - I mean - Cloud seems nice, too-"

"He's not," he cut in, frowning into his arm.

"I'm not going to pressure you, though," Namine continued, ignoring his comment. "You must be under a lot of stress as it is and I know that you don't really like Cloud, but you'll get used to him. He's not there to replace anyone."

He sighed, his voice suddenly gentle and soft. "I don't think I can, you know. Dad's gone forever now… and I know that he's not replacing him…" He paused, pulling himself into a sitting position, eyes gazing up at the ceiling.

The mere thought of his Dad cut him like a knife. He missed he him so much sometimes that it hurt, mostly because he was always the one that he'd go to every time he had a problem. They did everything together. And obviously it affected Sora, too, but he was always a Mummies boy from the start. Jane was a little depressed about it, but she and his dad had split when he was just a three, so any lingering feeling she had of him were only measurable to friendship. When he died, she never spoke of him.

It was like he didn't exist anymore… Then Cloud came along and - his fists clenched - started getting all chummy with her and -

"It'll be okay," Namine assured him softly. "Things always work out. Especially when there are times when you feel like nothing else could go wrong."

A small smile tweaked at his lips, and he pressed his ear closer to the phone. "Hey, I love you, you know."

There was no pause on the other line, but for a moment he could just hear her breathing steadily. "I know," she admitted brightly. "I love you, too. But you know that already."

"I still like hearing it, though."

She sighed slightly and Roxas could hear the sound of a bed springs clanging as she sat on her bed. "And I'm always going to be here for you because I've always promised you I would. I've kept that promise, though, right? I still phone you every night even though I'm at Art School."

"I'm sorry," Roxas said, cringing slightly. "I'm going to have to pay half of your phone bill."

She laughed again. "Silly, you're worth it."

He was grinning now. "I went to the library again today." He paused, just to see whether she'd scold him again. When she didn't, he continued, "It's strange without you there. Sometimes I forget you're gone, you know."

"You're going to make yourself sick if you carry on like that."

He chuckled. "I just miss your company, I guess."

"You know I miss you, too. And - oh - we're on a break next week. I can come and stop by…"

His heart did a little flip-flop. He hadn't seem Namine in little less that six months because she had too much coursework to catch up on and she lived in London with her parents, who had to move to allow her to go there. That was like a three hour journey from where he lived. Finally, he had the chance to see her, but…

"You want to stay here?" he asked. "In this mad house?"

"If you're there, I'm sure that I'll be fine. Besides, it'll be nice to see everyone again. Don't worry about the money, either; mum and dad will pay for everything."

"Hmm," he ground out, laying down again, one hand behind his head. "How long?"

"A week?" she wondered aloud, her voice a little hopeful. "I have two weeks off, so…"

Roxas scratched his head. "Er…"

"Sure you can come, Namine!" A sudden unexpected voice sounded from another line. Sora had picked up the phone. "You can even sleep in my room. I'll sleep with Roxas, unless you'd rather-"

"Sora! Shut the hell up!" Roxas snapped, blushing furiously.

Namine was laughing. "Thanks, Sora."

"See, Roxas? All sorted. I've even asked mum," Sora was saying.

Roxas clenched his fist. "Get off the phone before I come down there and beat your ass into next week!"

That only made Namine laugh even harder and Sora joined her, but Roxas was too annoyed to take notice of that. It just made him angrier.

"It's okay, Roxas," Namine laughed. "I don't mind, really."

"Yeah, Roxas," Sora chimed, a playful tone in his voice. "Don't you want to see your girlfriend again?"

"Oh, that's rich coming from someone who can't even ask the girl he likes to go out with him!" Roxas shot back irritably.

That shut Sora up. "Ass!" he said, before hanging up.

All he could hear now was the sound of Namine still giggling at their behaviour. It calmed him down a little bit, but he could hear Sora whining to Jane below, who would most likely just drink up anything he said.

"You two are so funny," she announced, muffling her laugh. "But I guess he still hasn't told Kairi yet."

"Not even close," Roxas sighed, settling down into his covers. His eyes closed.

"Maybe they just need a little push," she told him with hidden amusement.

He couldn't help the grin that slid onto his lips. "You mean a big push. Sora's too dumb to see that even she likes him. They're both so stupid."

He could almost see Namine rolling her eyes at him. "Some people need a little help."

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing yet. I'll see what happens when I get there."

He opened his eyes. "When are you coming?"

"Next week, I suppose, seeing as Sora's already asked. You better make sure, though." The sound of a door opening, followed by loud, abrupt giggling. "Ah, Selphie!"

His brows furrowed - Selphie? Was that her roommate?

"Well, I have to go now, Roxas," she said suddenly. "My roommates just walked in. I'll call you tomorrow to go over details about next week."

He sighed wistfully. "Okay, then."

"See you, Roxas."

"Bye."

"Take care."

"I love you."

There was a pause, followed by a small sigh. "I love you, too."

He waited for her to hang up first and then placed the phone back on his bedside table, a little relived. So Namine would be coming to stay over next week for a whole week. He smiled to himself, mulling over all the things that they could do whilst she was staying over. And then it hit him: staying over meant that she'd be meeting his parents, who thought she was his girlfriend.

He was screwed.


End file.
